Production is down, but farmers in Quang Ninh grow lychees as big as eggs, sweet and cool to eat, but are still excited about this.

Harvesting early ripening lychees of Phuong Nam in Phuong Nam ward, Uong Bi city, Quang Ninh province. Video: Bui My

Early ripening litchi from Phuong Nam is priced well.

Early-ripening lychee Phuong Nam has been associated with farmers in Uong Bi City, Quang Ninh Province since 1966. Although originating from Thanh Ha lychee, due to soil conditions and water sources, early-ripening lychee Phuong Nam has large fruit, thin skin, sparse thorns, thick flesh, lots of water, characteristic aroma, cool sweet taste, mildly sour but not astringent. Notably, early-ripening lychee Phuong Nam is harvested earlier than many other lychee varieties.

Many people have transplanted this variety of tree to other communes and wards of Uong Bi City, but the characteristics of this lychee variety can only be maintained for the first 1-2 years and the fruit quality is reduced.

Mr. Pham Van Tri (Da Bac area, Phuong Nam ward, Uong Bi city, Quang Ninh province) said that Phuong Nam early-ripening lychee trees have lower yields, but higher selling prices than last year. Photo: Bui My

These days, the early-ripening lychee orchards of Phuong Nam (Uong Bi City, Quang Ninh Province) have almost all been purchased by traders. This year, most of the early-ripening lychee orchards of Phuong Nam have seen a decrease in yield due to unfavorable weather. However, the price of lychee purchased by traders is higher than in 2023, so lychee growers still have a good source of income.

Ms. Nguyen Huy Hai (Hiep Thanh area, Phuong Nam ward, Uong Bi city, Quang Ninh province) said that her family is one of the earliest households to harvest Phuong Nam early-ripening lychees in the region. Her family has 140 Phuong Nam early-ripening lychee trees, but due to unfavorable weather this year, about 30 trees did not bear fruit. Although the output decreased by about 1 ton of fruit, the family still made a good profit because the lychees were priced well.

"At the beginning of the season, lychees were sold for 40,000 - 50,000 VND/kg, then gradually decreased and stabilized at around 35,000 VND/kg, and at the end of the season, they were still sold for 30,000 VND/kg" - Ms. Hai boasted.

Mr. Pham Van Tri's family harvests the last batch of early-ripening lychees from Phuong Nam. Photo: Bui My

Mr. Pham Van Tri's family (Da Bac area, Phuong Nam ward, Uong Bi city, Quang Ninh province) said that traders had come to buy his lychee garden early, only a few of them had been ordered by others so they were just harvesting them now.

According to Mr. Tri, thanks to the application of scientific and technical measures in taking care of lychee trees, despite unfavorable weather, his family's lychee yield did not decrease much, the quality of the lychee was still guaranteed, the appearance was beautiful and it sold at a high price.

"The price of early-ripening lychees from Phuong Nam this year is higher than last year's crop. Lychees sold to traders for cold storage are about 7,000 VND/kg higher than last year, while lychees sold to traders for consumption at the market are about 10,000 VND/kg higher than last year" - Mr. Tri quickly bundled the lychees and excitedly showed off.

Farmers are excited because early-ripening litchis from Phuong Nam are getting good prices. Photo: Bui My

Improving the quality of Phuong Nam early ripening litchi

Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi is one of the OCOP products of Uong Bi City, bringing economic value to farmers. Currently, there are about 1,500 households growing Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi on an area of ​​nearly 400 hectares, concentrated in 8 planning areas of Bach Dang 1, Bach Dang 2, Hiep Thanh, Phong Thai, Hong Ha, Hong Hai, Da Bac, Cam Hong of Phuong Nam Ward, Uong Bi City, Quang Ninh Province. In 2024, the Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi area is estimated to reach an output of about 1,800 tons.

Since 2013, Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi has been certified by the Intellectual Property Office for trademark registration and has been planned by the Quang Ninh People's Committee as one of the 17 concentrated agricultural commodity production areas of the province. By 2019, Uong Bi City had completed the implementation of the model and production process of Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi according to VietGAP. To date, the entire ward has more than 290 hectares of Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi planted and cared for according to VietGAP, helping to ensure the quality and value of Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi.

Early-ripening lychees from the South are large, some as big as eggs, sweet and cool, slightly sour but not astringent. Photo: Bui My

In August 2022, the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection of Quang Ninh province coordinated with OTAS Global Joint Stock Company to pilot a model of standardizing data on the code of the growing area of ​​Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi according to the OTAS standard system, on an area of ​​30 hectares, with the participation of over 100 farmer members. The project implementation aims to develop agriculture in the direction of digital standards, serving production and enhancing the brand of local Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi products.

Mr. Bui Van Tra, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Phuong Nam Ward, said that since the beginning of May 2024, many traders have come to buy Phuong Nam early-ripening lychees for export to China. In addition, small traders also come to the gardens to place orders.

Early-ripening lychees of Phuong Nam are large in size, about 22-25 fruits/kg. To improve the quality of early-ripening lychees of Phuong Nam, specialized agencies are guiding farmers to apply many scientific and technical measures to care for lychee trees, aiming for a fruit size of 18-20 fruits/kg.

Mr. Bui Van Tra - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Phuong Nam Ward (Uong Bi City, Quang Ninh Province) introduces the local lychee variety. Photo: Bui My

According to Mr. Bui Van Tra, the harvest time is an important factor for Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi to have the advantage of dominating the market and having a higher selling price than litchi from other localities. However, most of Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi is still harvested around April 10-15 of the lunar calendar, almost reaching the early-ripening threshold of some litchi varieties in other localities, so the higher price is not much.

Therefore, recently, Phuong Nam ward has tested a project model of applying technical advances to help Phuong Nam early-ripening lychee trees flower stably every year and increase the ability to harvest fruit early. Accordingly, the experiment was conducted to control winter buds and control lychee trees to differentiate flower buds stably, in order to promote early fruit harvest at the beginning of the season (phase 1 from March 29 to April 1 of the lunar calendar) and in the middle of the season (phase 2 from April 2 to 15 of the lunar calendar).

"This year's early-ripening lychee crop, the first household harvested lychee on the 29th of the third lunar month, and sold 2 tons of lychee for 70,000 VND/kg. Some lychee areas harvested around the 5th of the fourth lunar month also sold for around 50,000-55,000 VND/kg" - Mr. Nguyen Van Tra said.

Quang Ninh Center for Promotion and Development of Industry and Trade organizes livestream to promote and introduce Phuong Nam early ripening litchi. Photo: Bui My

In recent years, all levels, sectors and localities have focused on supporting connections and innovating trade promotion for Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi to expand the consumption market for this typical agricultural product. In particular, in 2024, for the first time, the Quang Ninh Center for Industry and Trade Promotion and Development organized a livestream to promote and introduce Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi on social networks...

Ms. Tran Thi Huong (Da Bac area, Phuong Nam ward, Uong Bi city, Quang Ninh province) said that this year, for the first time, she organized a livestream to promote and introduce Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi. Through this, she hopes that more and more consumers will know about Phuong Nam early-ripening litchi.

Source: https://danviet.vn/san-luong-giam-nong-dan-o-quang-ninh-trong-loai-vai-to-nhu-qua-trung-an-ngot-mat-van-phan-khoi-vi-dieu-nay-20240524003248602.htm